January 2008 - Volume Fifteen, Number One

EXPEDITION NEWS, now in its 14th year, is the monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate.

IS THE BICYCLE AN IDEAL KAYAKING AROUND WINTER VEHICLE? PAPUA NEW GUINEA he explorer H.W. Tilman is famously credited with n May 2008 Australian teacher Andrew Hughes, 29, saying, “Any worthwhile expedition can be planned of Hobart, Tasmania, will attempt a solo sea kayaking Ton the back of an envelope.” Well here’s one that can Iexpedition around Papua New Guinea, the eastern half be planned on the back of a postage stamp: it focuses on of the second largest island on earth. Launching from the whether a mountain bike can be the ideal cold weather remote mining town of Kiunga, 528 miles up the Fly River, expedition vehicle. Hughes will paddle down river to the coast and continue to the northern border with Irian Jaya. The journey is expected The performance of mountain bikes over snow and ice is to take six months and cover nearly 2,485 miles, and will what noted Himalayan climber Andy Politz, 48, hopes to be documented live on his Web site. Hughes is hoping to find out in Canada next month. He and five others are plan- engage students from around the world in a climate change ning a bicycle expedition to Georgian Bay, the eastern lobe curriculum to be used by teachers in classrooms. of Lake Huron, to the Thirty Thousand Islands. His expedi- tion will depart in mid-February and take about a week. The “It will not be the first sea kayaking expedition to Papua team intends to ride Trek mountain bikes from Killarney (in New Guinea, but it will be the most comprehensive,” he tells the north) to Penetanguishene to the south across the frozen EN. Challenges will include saltwater crocodiles, isolation, expanse of the area’s 180-mi. small boat route that traverses and communication barriers. In 2006, Hughes successfully the islands. completed a 3,045-mi. sea kayak expedition from Hobart to Thursday Island, past the far northern point of Australia. Politz has 12 years of guiding under his belt for Rainier His primary sponsors are Australian Geographic and the Mountaineering Inc., with 146 successful ascents of Mt. University of Tasmania Faculty of Science, Engineering & Rainier. He has attempted seven times Technology. (For more information: andrew@expedition- since 1985 and has been on both 1999 and 2001 Mallory class.com, www.expeditionclass.com). and Irvine Research expeditions. He reached the summit of Everest in 1991, by the North Ridge. Since leaving Rainier, he has been teaching and facilitating adventures at a local high school near his home in Upper Arlington, STEGER TO GLACIERS: Ohio. “SAY CHEESE” “We are not trying to do any first here. I would not be sur- n international team of young explorers will conduct prised if somebody did exactly this in the 1930’s. Certainly an expedition to the Canadian Arctic next spring the Georgian Bay area gets pretty heavy kayak traffic in the Ato draw attention to retreating glaciers and other summer,” Politz tells EN. apparent signs of climate change. Leading the team – whose

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oldest member will be 28 – is Will Steger, 63, who last “This is a training run that will allow us to explore the month met with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in Oslo bicycle as a winter vehicle. We are only hoping to gain as he was receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on insight for the potential of bigger trips. It has been a fun climate change. Steger says the 60-day Arctic expedition, trip to put together. We’ll see how it all works out.” scheduled to start in April, is meant to focus on emerging leaders and their technology. Politz continues, “I see this micro adventure as an intriguing concept allowing me to illustrate an adventure “Young people have a really strong social network, and theory of mine. we can reach a lot of people that way,” he said. “The pur- pose of the trip is to bring an audience to the front lines of “I am convinced adventurers have a fresh perspective, global warming.” Steger and his team – which includes two an essential toolbox of skills, a functional management Americans, two Norwegians, a Canadian and a Briton – will style concerning risk and the unknown. If they stay in travel 1,400 miles by dogsled to Ellesmere Island, a snow- their arena, they are slick, sexy, faultless, bold, untouch- capped mass on the tip of North America about 500 miles able. Should they want to direct their skills and insights from the North Pole. The team plans to leave time-lapse to inspiring, teaching and wrestling with their communities’ cameras on northern Ellesmere Island to document retreating challenges, they have entered the classic Greek, ‘heroic glaciers and other apparent signs of global warming. experience.’” In a related story, Steger was honored on Dec. 8 as the Sponsorship support is being provided by two Trek bicycle Grand Marshal of the 16th annual Macy’s Holidazzle Parade retailers in Columbus, Ohio. Further assistance is being through the streets of downtown Minneapolis – a sound and provided by another local retailer, the Outdoor Source. light show where all costumes and floats are illuminated by (For more information: http://www.myspace.com/ Christmas lights. While this was an honor more commonly georgianbayadventure). associated with local beauty queens than grizzled middle- aged polar explorers, Steger tells EN, “I even got to ride the Twinkle Bus which is decked out for the season in some 20,000 lights and snowflake-covered hubcaps.”

Steger continues, “This is one of the many public service Quote of the Month events that I do. It is a way of meeting and reaching chil- dren. In a six-week period I spoke to over 18,000 people around the state of Minnesota, including serving as the com- “People sense the Arctic is going mencement speaker for the University of Minnesota College to change. There is something in of Liberal Arts. “I am a public person, a global warming pol- itician – this is what it takes to effect change – a lot of work human nature that likes to watch and all your personal time.” (For more information: www. things die, a morbid curiosity of globalwarming101.com). human beings. And I think there’s a touch of that.” ECO-EVEREST EXPEDITION

– Dennis Schmitt explaining why Arctic tours PLANNED FOR SPRING are popular now that global warming has entered awa Steven Sherpa, 23, the son of Ang Tshering public consciousness. Schmitt discovered hand- shaped Warming Island off the east coast of Sherpa of in Katmandu, is preparing Greenland, called by the New York Times (Dec. Dfor the Eco-Everest Expedition in the spring of 2008. 9), “perhaps the greatest visual evidence of global warming in Greenland.” Schmitt says, “If global Ang Tshering Sherpa, 54, president of the Nepal warming needed a poster child, here it is.” In years Mountaineering Association, says of his son, “During his past Warming Island was connected to the mainland by ice and presumed to be part of the same mass. successful climb of Mt. Everest in spring 2007 he saw the (See related story). real danger to lives and property posed by Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF). Although Mt. Everest is the high- est in the world, she is still a fragile ‘Mother Goddess’ in terms of global warming,” he said.

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“This made him take a bold step – to organize the first Eco- Captain Kidd Ship Believed Found – The wreckage of Everest Expedition 2008 – to study the effects of global a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th cen- warming on the Himalayan glaciers and to document the tury has been found by divers in shallow waters off the high risk to the people and the land in case of a glacial lake Dominican Republic, a research team claims. The under- outburst flood. water archaeology team, from Indiana University, says they have found the remains of Quedagh Merchant, actively “In the future we hope to install an early warning system at sought by treasure hunters for years. Imja lake in case it should burst its banks and devastate the Khumbu valley – the bread basket of Nepal’s tourism indus- Charles Beeker of IU said his team has been licensed to try,” writes Ang Tshering Sherpa. (For more information: study the wreckage and convert the site into an underwater [email protected]). preserve for the public. It is considered remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the EXPEDITION UPDATE Dominican Republic in less than 10 feet of seawater. Larsen Ice Shelf Expedition Begins “I’ve been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career,” Beeker said. “This is one of the first sites I’ve been on Bowermaster and his team have departed for the on where I haven’t seen any looting. We’ve got a shipwreck Antarctic Peninsula for five weeks (See EN, December in crystal clear, pristine water that’s amazingly untouched. J2007). They kicked off the latest Oceans 8 project from We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement Puerto Williams, Chile, by sailboat on New Year’s Eve. now to ensure the site’s protection from looters.” The plan is to stop at King George Island, pick up their cached sea kayaks and spend all of January exploring the The find is valuable because of what it could reveal about Weddell Sea from sea level. The goal is to get as close to William Kidd and piracy in the Caribbean, said John Foster, the Larsen Ice Shelf as possible, to document how the ice California’s state underwater archaeologist, who is partici- and sea that surrounds Antarctica’s most exposed corner pating in the research. The IU team examined the shipwreck is changing. (For more information and dispatches: at the request of the Dominican Republic’s Oficina Nacional www.Antarctica2008.com). De Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático.

EXPEDITION NOTES EXPEDITION FOCUS eath on Disney’s Everest – It’s one thing to die on Famed Axe Goes on Display the world’s tallest mountain doing what you love, Dbut pretty pathetic when you meet your end on a n Dec. 5, the Bradford Washburn American thrill ride of the same name. reported a Mountaineering Museum in Golden, Colo., took man died Dec. 18 after riding Expedition Everest at Animal Odelivery of one of the most historic artifacts in the Kingdom in Florida. world of mountaineering – the Schoening ice axe. The axe was used to save the lives of five men, and has come to Disney said Jeffrey Reeb, 44, a Florida resident, appeared to represent the pinnacle of mountaineering ethics. The axe be unconscious and unresponsive when the train he was rid- will be on loan from the Washington State Historical Society. ing arrived back at the station. The year 1953 was a great one for mountaineering. By its Park personnel immediately rendered CPR to Reeb, but he end, the summit of Mt. Everest was achieved after so many was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Investigators said previous failures. Austrian Hermann Buhl climbed alone Reeb appeared to be conscious in a photograph taken on the to the summit of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan to become the coaster approximately 50 seconds before the conclusion of first person ever to complete a solo first ascent of an 8000 the ride. Cause of death was a pre-existing heart condition. meter peak. On K2, the world’s second highest mountain, however, a saga unfolded that has forever remained etched The death is the first associated with the in the annals of mountaineering. It was not to be a successful Expedition Everest, which opened in early 2006. That ride expedition – the summit would remain unclimbed until the includes tight twists and turns and some backwards travel following year. But the tenacity and strength displayed by but is not a particularly fast or steep roller coaster and has the members of the expedition team remain legendary. no loops.

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A storm on the Abruzzi Ridge – 25,000 feet up on the slopes From the tropics to the ice fields, doom is big business. Quark of K2 – sent climbers led by Charles Houston, a doctor from Expeditions, a leader in arctic travel, doubled capacity for its Seattle, scrambling to save the life of a fellow mountaineer. 2008 season of trips to the northern and southernmost reaches Climbing alpine style without the aid of oxygen, team member of the planet. Travel agents report clients are increasingly Art Gilkey’s legs were filling with blood clots. With no other requesting trips to see the melting glaciers of Patagonia, the option than to get Gilkey to a lower elevation as fast as pos- threatened coral of the Great Barrier Reef, and the eroding sible, the team began to maneuver him down the precariously atolls of the Maldives, Shapiro said. steep and icy slope in the middle of a vicious storm, in his sleeping bag. That is until George Bell lost his footing and, in Even the sinking of the Antarctic cruise ship Explorer, the ensuing entanglement of ropes and climbers, five men start- which recently hit an iceberg, has not cooled interest. ed plunging towards their deaths off the face of the mountain. Other Antarctic tour operators say they have received frantic calls asking for last-minute berths from those who The youngest and strongest man on this expedition team, how- had been scheduled to take future Explorer voyages. Since ever, would keep this expedition from being remembered solely most trips are already full, would-be paying customers are for its tragedies. Moments after Gilkey, still in his sleeping bag, being turned away. and the other five men began sliding to their deaths, a chemist from Seattle, Pete Schoening, instinctually jammed his ice axe What these travelers are chasing may be a modern-day ver- behind a boulder – an impromptu rope belay, with the rope sion of an old human impulse – to behold an untrammeled wrapped around his hip and the wooden shaft of the axe – and frontier. Except this time around, instead of being the first to instantaneously arrested five men from hurtling to their deaths. climb a mountain or behold a glacier-fed lake, voyagers … are eager to be the ones to see things last. Unfortunately, Gilkey would later be swept into the void by an avalanche. Still, Schoening’s simple yet life-altering act has since defined the expedition: “The Belay” is now recognized Almost all these trips are marketed as environmentally aware as one of the most heroic acts in all of mountaineering history. and eco-sensitive – they are, after all, a grand tour of the dev- astating effects of global warming. But the travel industry, The five lives that dangled from Schoening’s ice axe in some environmentalists say, is preying on the frenzy. This Pakistan have since blossomed into what has been described, kind of travel, they argue, is hardly green. It’s greedy, requir- by the daughter of a dangling expedition member, as ing airplanes and boats as well as new hotels, according to “Children of the Belay.” Karen Molenaar Terrell, daughter of the Times story. team member Dee Molenaar, was able to bring the children, grandchildren, and other relatives of those dangling souls In November, Travel + Leisure magazine came out with a together for a reunion– there are more than 30 people alive “responsible travel” issue and listed on its cover “13 guilt-free today because of “The Belay”– because of Pete Schoening. travel deals,” No. 5 being an Inkaterra Rain Forest package. For $497 a person, it included a three-night stay in a cabana In a final push to raise funds to support construction of the on stilts, an excursion to the hotel’s private ecological reserve, Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum, the a boat trip to a native farm and a 30-minute massage at the museum is throwing a “Fun, Fundraising Party” on Jan. 18. hotel spa. It’s a chance to see the museum, and the famous axe, before the museum opens to the public on Feb. 16. (For more infor- This is all a ruse, said John Stetson, a spokesman for mation: http://bwamm.blogspot.com/). the Will Steger Foundation, an environmental education organization in Minnesota. “Eco-tourism is more of a term for the marketer,” he said. “Many people want to do what’s MEDIA MATTERS right, so when something is marketed as the right thing, they tend to do that.” ourism of Doom – That’s what Ken Shapiro, the edi- tor in chief of TravelAge West, a magazine for travel But, he says, traveling by jet to see the icebergs contributes to Tagents, calls the current trend to visit places that are global warming, which makes the icebergs melt faster. “It’s disappearing due to global warming. hard to fault somebody who wants to see something before it disappears, but it’s unfortunate that in their pursuit of doing “It’s not just about going to an exotic place,” Shapiro tells that, they contribute to the problem,” he tells Times reporter the New York Times (Dec. 16), “It’s about going someplace Allen Salkin. they expect will be gone in a generation.”

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Advocates of green tourism counter that even carbon- consuming travel can help preserve destinations, as local CLIMBING FOR DOLLARS people learn that there is more economic value in preserving mile Network Expedition – Six Minnesota resi- nature for tourists than in farming or timber harvesting, dents embarked this month on an expedition to help said Lene Oestergaard, the executive director of the Schildren across the globe through Smile Network Rainforest Foundation. International, a non-profit, Minnesota-based humanitarian organization. The program, Miles for Smiles, sends local Mind Over Mountain – “After a freak-out stage and a volunteers of various backgrounds and professions on a why-me stage – things everyone goes through – I accepted hiking expedition to raise awareness and funds to perform that there was nothing I could do but look forward,” says reconstructive surgeries to repair birth defects of a cleft lip adventurer Andy Knapp, a 30-year veteran of Midwest or cleft palate. Mountaineering in Minneapolis, who has been fighting kidney cancer for almost five years. “Miles for Smiles is just one way that we are able to accomplish our mission of reconstructing lives, one bright According to a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Dec. smiling face at a time,” said Kim Valentini, founder of 11) by Stephen Regenold, a Twin Cities writer and author of Smile Network International. “For as little as $500, Smile the syndicated column www.thegearjunkie.com, in the past Network International is able to repair a child’s birth five years, while Knapp’s condition has waxed and waned, defect, and in the space of 45 minutes, restore joy and while tumors have grown and shrunk, his forward momen- dignity to their lives.” tum has pushed him to revisit some of the key expeditions of his young adulthood. A 1,523-mile pedal north from From January 15 to January 25, six volunteers from all dif- Minneapolis, looping through Wisconsin and Michigan’s ferent backgrounds in Minnesota will hike the Inca Trail – Upper Peninsula, into Ontario, then back west to Minnesota a four-day, 26-mi. stone paved trek to Machu Picchu. The and home again, took place almost 40 years to the day after location was chosen because Peru, like many developing the same trip on a three-speed bike in 1964. countries, lacks health care for those that cannot afford it. All trekkers pay their own expenses and raise money for their surgical mission. The trekkers give their time, heart and This past summer, Knapp, 60, set out to ride solo to Alaska financial support to make these surgical missions possible. – 2,655 miles in 24 days. It was the 40th anniversary of a similar trip he started in 1967 with his brother Steve, Smile Network International is planning another Inca Trail and two friends, Howie Graham and Richard Dean trek in April and spots are still available to participate in Anderson, then an aspiring actor from Roseville, Minn., the trek. Other upcoming missions for Smile Network who’d grow up to be the never-say-die star of ABC’s include three surgical missions in Lima, Peru, along with primetime drama MacGyver. Gurrero and Puebla, Mexico. (For more information: www.smilenetwork.org). “For five years, Knapp has taken one small step at a time with cancer. As he does with a mountain climb, he has mentally broken the fight into segments, each one man- EXPEDITION MARKETING ageable on its own even if the larger goal looks insur- mountable. Each painful therapy, each new experimental Save the Poles Picks Up Sponsors drug is a pitch to scale on a steep face. Kick one foot twater Carey and Potable Aqua, two popular out- into the snow, rest, breathe, then step up and kick again,” door health and safety brands, will sponsor the Regenold writes. ASave the Poles Expedition. Arctic explorer Eric Larsen is planning the expedition for 2009, when he will Knapp believes, “Cancer is pain, but it’s more mental attempt unsupported voyages to Mt. Everest as well as the than physical. Look forward and be positive about your North and South Poles within a continuous 365-day period chances; someone has to beat the odds and it may be – reportedly never before attempted. Larsen will utilize yourself. The mental strength developed from outdoor Atwater Carey and Potable Aqua products during the expe- skills, adventure and adversity can help you successfully dition and will then provide valuable performance feed- face other challenges in life.” (For more information: back to Wisconsin Pharmacal Company, the manufacturer www.andytknapp.com). of both product lines.

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Eric Larsen, of Grand Marais, Minn., has spent his entire life in pursuit of wilderness. As a dog musher, whitewater EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS canoe guide, backcountry ranger, competitive cyclist and Across the World Drive – Not all of us are fit or young educator, he has explored throughout northern Minnesota, enough to climb Everest but there is still an opportunity the American West, Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. (For to join an expedition. Starting in August 2008, Australian more information: www.savethepoles.com). adventurer Lang Kidby will lead a small group, in their own vehicles from Vladivostok to Europe via the new Trans- You’ve Seen the Expedition, Now Get the Shirt – A selec- Siberian Road, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey. tion of commemorative shirts to celebrate the completion of Want to come along? [email protected]. Check the Web site Expedition 360 are being hawked on the Web. The design www.next-horizon.org. marks the final route around the world from Greenwich, England, through the two antipodal points on the Atlantic Costa Del Mar Sunglasses – The leader in high perfor- and western Australia, and back to Greenwich again. This mance polarized sunglasses is interested in sponsoring is the last in a total of seven designs that were printed over expeditions. Help us “See what’s out there™.” See Costa the years to raise funds to keep the expedition going in the Del Mar’s online video network dedicated to water sports absence of formal sponsorship. The original was printed and angling adventures (www.costachannelc.com). Submit with the hopelessly optimistic dates of 1994-1996. The final film footage of “you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it” extreme design gives the real tally of 13-years. (For more informa- water sports and fishing expeditions. Contact Laurie Driggs tion: www.expedition360.com). at [email protected] for information. Learn more about our commitment to exploration and adventure travel at: http://www.costadelmar.com/adventures/

ON THE HORIZON Advertise in Expedition News – For just 50 cents a word, limbers Document Climate Change – On Feb. 22, you can reach an estimated 10,000 readers of America’s the American Alpine Club will host “Climbatology” only monthly newsletter celebrating the world of expeditions Cin the American Mountaineering Center’s 320-seat on land, in space, and beneath the sea. Join us as we take a theater in Golden, Colo. The event is a fund-raiser for the sometimes-irreverent look at the people and projects making Alpine Conservation Partnership (ACP), and is presented in Expedition News. Frequency discounts are available. conjunction with Patagonia and the Mountain Institute. (For more information: [email protected]).

Alton Byers, director of the ACP, will unveil dramatic photo Himalaya Climbs and Treks – Five percent discount for documentation of climate change’s affects on the world’s Explorers Club members. Climbs and Treks with Dan Mazur tallest mountain. Byers spent 30 days in the Mt. Everest and SummitClimb.com – Africa, Himalaya, Aconcagua, region last fall, recreating the 1950s-era photographs of Everest Basecamp Treks, Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya Treks Swiss glaciologist Fritz Müller and Austrian alpinist and and Climbs. Ascents and walks around Africa, Tibet, China, mapmaker Erwin Schneider. Patagonia climbing ambassador Nepal and around the world with our experienced friendly Kitty Calhoun will present Last Ascents, a look at alpine team. Established for 18 years. Novices, and experts are wel- routes that may never have another ascent because of the come. 360 570 0715, [email protected], effects of global warming. (For more information: www.summitclimb.com. www.AmericanAlpineClub.org). New LEKI Antishock System – LEKI, the leading inter- national manufacturer of trekking poles, has introduced a Soft Antishock-Lite (SAS-L) System that provides much DEPARTMENT more comfort along the trail. The impact energy is absorbed OF CORRECTIONS directly into the lower shaft. The perfect combination of steel spring and elastomer provides precise synchronization orrecting a Correction – Our December issue con- between spring strength and compression – making trekking tained a correction concerning the first Americans with a pole more comfortable than ever, reducing stress on Cto ski to the South Pole. Unfortunately our headline the joints, muscles and ligaments. (www.leki.com) incorrectly read, “Who Was the First American to Ski to the North Pole?” It should have read “South Pole.” Our thanks for continued on page 7 pointing this out goes to retired Du Pont employee and arm- chair explorer Robert L. Van Dyke of Wilmington, Dela.

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Tights, Tops and Sport Support Bras for Athletes – CW-X Conditioning Web is specifically tuned to provide |total support to the key muscle groups and joints of the lower limbs and upper body. Tights and Tops, and the company’s new Sports Support Bras, are made for a wide variety of high-energy activities, including running, fitness walking, hiking, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, track and field, and other fitness activities. It has been worn to the summit of Everest on at least two occasions. (www.cw-x.com).

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc., 397 Post Rd., Suite 213, Darien, CT 06820 USA. Tel. 203 655 1600, fax 203 655 1622, [email protected]. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Assistant editor: Jamie Gribbon. ©2007 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1526-8977. Subscriptions: US$36/yr. available by e-mail only. Credit card payments accepted through www.paypal.com. Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Layout and design by Nextwave Design, Seattle. 7